1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a rack for flat rectangular articles, in particular an upright display rack for CD""s or DVD""s.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 798,115, issued to Ross in 1905, discloses a display board for seed packages which includes a board supported in an inclined position and a plurality of pairs of supporting wires or staples arranged at convenient intervals. The lower ends of the wires in each pair are spaced apart by a distance which is less than the transverse dimension of the seed packages, while the upper ends are spaced apart by a distance which is greater than the transverse dimension. Each supporting wire or staple is bent to form two legs at right angles to a straight crown section; the legs are driven into the board so that the crown is vertical when the board is in its inclined position. Both the board and the supporting wires are relatively stiff; it is a specific object for the straight crown sections to guide the packages being inserted between the upper legs of a pair.
Other prior art includes peg boards with custom formed wires for hanging tools. Here too there is little flexibility in either the board or the wires. As such the boards are relatively heavy and cannot be stored in a rolled condition. Further they are not transparent and do not provide any passage of light or visibility of background on the side opposite the display. There is no possibility to form the supporting wires without tools, and no suggestion that the supporting wires can be formed integrally with the board. Indeed, there is no suggestion that they can even be formed of the same material. Most prior art for holding or displaying objects includes rigid boards and custom formed wires which have little flexibility.
It is an object of the invention to provide a complete rack for flat rectangular articles, in particular CD""s or DVD""s, which can be stored in a rolled condition.
It is a further object to provide a rack which is light in weight and can be hung from a wall or supported in a frame.
It is a further object to provide a rack which can be assembled without tools.
It is a further object to provide a rack which can be stamped from sheet material so that the backboard and the supporting elements for CD""s are integrally formed.
According to the invention, the backboard is flexible, and is preferably made of sheet plastic such as polycarbonate or polyethylene less than 1.0 mm thick. Flexible resilient loops are fixed to the backboard in pairs, each loop having a lower end, an upper end, and an arcuate section between the ends.
According to a first embodiment, the resilient loops are lengths of tubing with end faces received against a first side of the backboard and retained by unformed rivets received through holes in the backboard from the second side. According to a variation, mirror image loops can be fitted to the second side and held by pins passing through to the loops on the first side.
According to a second embodiment, the loops are formed integrally with the plastic sheet of the backboard by stamping straps from parallel slots in the sheet, each strap having a proximal end integrally attached to the sheet, and a distal end which is attachable to the backboard remote from the slot. The distal ends are preferably formed with shoulders for retention in apertures punched between the slots, each aperture accommodating the distal ends of two adjacent straps. This embodiment is especially economic to manufacture, since it does not require separate parts for the loops, and does not require any assembly by the manufacturer. It also requires a minimum of space for shipping and storage since it can be rolled up prior to fixing the distal ends in the apertures.
According to a third embodiment, triangular retaining members are punched from plastic sheet which may be the same material as the backboard. Each retaining member has a bottom edge formed with a tab and two side edges which converge from the bottom edge to an apex. The retaining members are bowed so that the tab and the apex can be received in apertures punched in the backboard; the bottom edges of triangular sheet members are linearly aligned so that the adjacent side edges serve as retaining loops for a CD. The apices are spaced apart by slightly more than the transverse dimension of the CD and thus position it laterally.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.